


The Librarian

by Reddie_Set_Gooo



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bi Jason, Cute, Dating, Fluff, Gay Percy, Librarian Jason, M/M, jercy - Freeform, short chapters but many to come, switching POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-22 22:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10706427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reddie_Set_Gooo/pseuds/Reddie_Set_Gooo
Summary: Percy and Jason are just regular college students who have a chance encounter in the library. It eventually progresses into something much more than either of them were expecting.





	1. Chapter 1

Percy

“I fucking hate studying,” Percy told Piper. And it was true, there was nothing Percy hated more than studying, except maybe his step father from a few years back, or people who picked on his half-brother Tyson. But studying felt almost on par with those things. At least he knew why he hated it though. Before he knew he was dyslexic he always thought that there was something wrong with him.

“That’s too bad Perce, cause you have a Bio final next week, and you’ve done shit to prepare, so I’m imposing a court ordained mandatory study time. So, get your ass in that library and study,” Piper responded. 

Percy rolled his eyes so hard he was worried they’d get stuck in his skull, at least that would’ve gotten him out of having to study. He gave one last pleading look to his sister, but Piper just pointed to the doors. Percy grabbed his backpack straps, hung his head, and finally went through the front doors. 

God, he hated the library. This was the first ten seconds he’d ever been in here, and it was already the worst ten seconds of his life. 

‘Alright, might as well just get this started so I can get the fuck out of here,’ he thought dejectedly. He walked farther into the building of misery, the new name he’d come up with for the library, and picked a table in the back corner, as far away from other people as possible. He also didn’t want people to associate him with someone who would actually spend their time here. 

He reached into his backpack and pulled out his laptop and his notebooks, which were covered in little doodles of fish and waves. Percy had always wanted to be a marine biologist, and he had a natural aptitude in the field for whatever reason, but this biology class was kicking his ass. Piper was right, he really did need to study, he hated it when she was right. As soon as he opened his notebooks though, to begin making flashcards, his eyes just glazed over and he couldn’t seem to focus on anything that was on the page. 

The next thing Percy knew he was waking up with a noticeable spiral notebook indent in his left cheek, unbeknownst to him. 

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, he hadn’t gotten any studying done. 

As his eyes got more into focus and he came out of his groggy state he noticed one of the librarians putting books onto the shelf a few feet away from him.

“Fuck,” he muttered again, this time with a lot more enthusiasm. 

The guy was hands down one of the most attractive guys Percy had ever seen. Classic jock, just Percy’s type, tall, tan, blond. Was that a tattoo on his arm? Yep, Percy definitely saw a tattoo on his arm. He was really built for a librarian, in fact the only part that seemed “librarian,” about him, to Percy, were the glasses sitting on his nose, and Percy was really digging the look. 

It was then that the guy turned around to grab another set of books from the cart to begin adding to the shelf, that Percy realized he’d been staring at the guy for a bit too long. He quickly changed his line of sight to the sign on the wall behind the librarian, so in case he looked over, Percy wouldn’t look like he was interested. He always played hard to get. It couldn’t hurt to start a conversation though. 

“Hey, do you know where the section on biology books would be, I could use the help for this final I’m studying for,” Percy said to the librarian. 

The guy turned at the sound of Percy’s voice, and damn, his face was just as attractive as the rest of him. 

The guy chuckled then said, “I think the first book you should check out would be a book on how to stay awake while studying.” Then he smiled this toothy grin, Percy loved it. It also made it obvious that the librarian had a scar on his upper lip. Percy thought about kissing it. Then he had to pull himself out of his daydream because he realized the blond had been teasing him. 

“I’m actually quite proficient at staying awake while studying, I’m a professional studier I’ll have you know,” retorted Percy.

“Are you sure about that, cause there’s definitely some evidence that you’ve been sleeping on the job,” said the librarian. 

“And what evidence is that?” asked Percy, I mean, it was evident that the librarian had been there while Percy had been sleeping, but he wanted to know what ‘evidence’ this librarian could be talking about. 

The guy gestured to his cheek, “Well, you seem to have some sort of marking there that distinctly resembles a spiral from a notebook, but I could be wrong,” said the librarian and then he laughed again. 

Percy reached up and touched his cheek, and the guy was right, there was a sizable imprint from his notebook right there, reaching from his eyebrow down to his jaw. 

“Shit,” he muttered and then he laughed and said, “Well, I’ve been caught, just don’t tell my boss.” 

The librarian laughed again and said, “I won’t, scouts honor, but just between us, I think you’re rocking the look,” then he laughed again and walked away with his now empty cart. 

Percy stared after him for a few seconds, thinking about how cute he’d been, and about his comment on rocking the spiral indent look, then looked at his phone for the time. 

“Shit,” he exclaimed, he’d been at the library for six hours, aka he’d been sleeping at the library for six hours. It was now 9pm and he was late for dinner with Piper. She was going to be so pissed at him for not studying.

As he started packing up his notebooks and laptop, he decided that maybe the library wasn’t so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Percy

He knew once he walked through the door of his apartment that his sister was going to ask him how studying went, and he’d have to lie and tell her how much he’d accomplished, and then she’d see right through him, and then she’d yell at him. But, he was okay with it today, he was in too good a mood for his sister to bring him down. 

“Hey Perce, how was studying, as bad as you imagined?” joked Piper from the kitchen. Honestly, Percy didn’t know how he’d survived his first year of college without his little sister, he was a terrible cook. On par with a chef from a prison, at least that’s what Piper always told him. 

“Yea, it was pretty much as bad as a day spent in the Fields of Punishment, but thankfully it only lasted a few horrible minutes,” he replied as he followed her voice into the same room.

“Minutes? But you’ve been gone for hours,” Piper said in a questioning tone, then it dawned on her. “Oh my god, you fell asleep didn’t you!” She sounded so much like their mom, it was scary to Percy sometimes. 

He smiled coyly at her then responded, “Guilty.” Piper hated it when he gave her that smug grin. 

She smacked him with the kitchen towel she was holding, “Dammit Percy, you know you need to do well on this final!” She acted like their mom too, Piper had always been the mature one out of the two of them, despite the fact that she was a full year younger. Everyone always thought they were twins though. They could have been for how much they looked alike. Their tan skin, green eyes, and lean muscles always made people think they were the same age, the only real difference between their appearance was that Percy had black hair, while Piper had a chocolate brown color. Percy honestly couldn’t blame anyone for thinking they were twins, they did everything together, hell they even ended up going to the same college and now they shared an apartment together. 

“I know, I know, I’m gonna go back tomorrow and actually get some stuff done, I promise,” he said. Which wasn’t a lie, but really he was just looking forward to any excuse to possibly see that hot librarian. 

She looked at him quizzically for a second before saying, “Never, in the 20 years that I have known you, have you ever willingly said you were going to go to the library. I had to literally drag you there myself today to get you to go. And now you’re saying that you’re going to go back tomorrow without even so much as a complaint? Who are you and what have you done with the real Percy Jackson.” 

He couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculously comical fake concerned face Piper was giving him at the moment, but there was no way he was going to tell her about his encounter with the cute librarian. 

“I’m fine Pipes, still as Percy as ever, you’re just right, I really need a good grade on this final,” he said with a smile. 

“Now you’re openly admitting that I’m right before I’ve had to tackle you and force you to say it? Now I know somethings wrong,” she laughed. “Go on and eat your pasta I made for you, I will warn you though, it’s cold now since you ‘studied’ so long at the library today.”

“Thanks for making dinner,” he said before sitting down at the table and scarfing down the pasta. Despite it being cold, damn, Piper could really cook. He’d said it before and he’ll say it again, thank god for Piper, he’d be starving this year out of the dorms without her. 

“Yea, yea, well I’m going to bed, I have an 8am in the morning,” she said before walking out of the kitchen. 

“Goodnight!” Percy called after her, though with his mouthful of pasta it sounded more accurately like, ‘Gobbnah!’

She replied by mimicking a similar noise to his and saying, “… to you to loser.” 

Percy smiled then went back to his deliciously cold pasta. 

The next morning, he woke up around 10, and immediately set to work trying to decide on what he would wear today to the library. He wanted to look good, obviously, but not in a ‘I tried really hard, and it’s really obvious’ sort of way, he wanted to look good in a ‘wow, I look great and didn’t even try’ sort of way. The second way almost took just as much work, if not more than the ‘obviously tried’ way, so he wasn’t ready to go until about 11. He’ d finally decided on his favorite pair of jeans, because they hung off his hips in a way that when he stretched right, paired with the correct shirt, someone, the librarian, could see the bottom of his abs leading into his pants. Then he picked out a casual green t-shirt, and a grey zip up hoodie. He ran his hands through his hair a few times until he was satisfied with the correct ratio of messy to swept look. Overall his whole outfit looked like he could’ve thrown it on in five minutes, but was, in fact, very thought out to impress. 

He began his walk to the library and was surprised by the amount of fluttering he felt in his stomach. Normally when meeting a guy, he could maintain his cool better than this. He shrugged it off though and chalked it up to a small breakfast. 

Once he got to the library he went straight for the same table he’d occupied the night before, in the back of the library. Funny how he’d picked the table specifically so people wouldn’t see him at the library, and now here he was at the library for the second day in a row, wanting to see someone. Well, not any someone, a very specific one to be more accurate. 

He didn’t see the librarian anywhere, which bummed him out, but he really did need to get to studying so he pulled out his materials again and set to work. 

He’d been at it for a couple hours before he finally saw him. He was pushing his cart of books around again, this time a few shelves farther away instead. He was just as cute today as he’d been last night. He was wearing khaki shorts and a purple t shirt. The shirt’s sleeves hugged his biceps perfectly, and Percy could see the man’s tattoo peeking out from under the edge of the sleeve. It looked like it might have been some kind of bird, but Percy couldn’t tell for sure though.   
Percy ran his hands through his black hair a few times before looking down at his notes and clearing his throat somewhat louder than was probably necessary. 

And, to Percy’s delight, it worked just as he’d hoped. The blond called out to him, “Hey! I see you’re back to work on your studying, but I don’t seem to see your trademark look from last night.” He said the last part while running his finger across his cheek. 

Percy looked up, feigning as if he hadn’t noticed the librarian before, also pretending to act cool even though his stomach had erupted into butterflies, and said, “Hey, yea I decided it was probably gonna be a onetime thing for me, I just can’t dedicate the time every morning to add ‘spiral notebook imprint’ into my daily routine.”

The librarian responded, “Well, that’s too bad, it really gave you this ‘edgy-nerd’ vibe, but yea it was uh good talkin’ with you, but I’ve got to get back to restocking the books, have fun studying.” 

Percy was sad he had to go so soon, especially since he didn’t get to use his stretching move on the guy, but said, “Can one really have fun while studying?” He laughed as he said it and the blond did too as he walked away. Those shorts really made his ass look nice, but Percy looked away quickly to make sure he wouldn’t allow himself to stare. 

That day on his way out of the library he saw a sign at the front desk that said, “How Are We Doing?” It was one of those anonymous note jars where you could leave notes saying if you thought the librarians were being helpful or what not. Percy had a better idea though. 

He grabbed the pen and the little slip of paper and wrote out his take on the library staff.


	3. Chapter 3

Jason

Jason rolled over in bed, groggy and only half-awake, and shut off his alarm. He stared at the ceiling of his dorm room above his bed and thought about his plan for the day. He had work first, another four-hour shift, but thankfully it was just stocking books at the library, mind numbingly easy work that he could do easily. His mind drifted to the raven-haired boy he’d met the last two days there. He wasn’t sure why though, he’d never been interested in men before, he’d had a girlfriend all through high school, but they’d broken up when they left for college last year. Jason hadn’t been interested in anyone since, not because he was heartbroken, they’d parted on good terms, but because no had caught his eye since getting to college. Until this boy from the library. 

He was a very attractive guy, dark raven hair, sea green eyes, tall and lean. But these things had never gotten Jason’s attention before, at least never when a guy possessed them. The two short conversations he’d had with the guy had given him more butterflies in his stomach than any girl so far in his year at college. 

He thought about asking his roommate Leo what he thought it meant, but knowing Leo he’d just get teased for having a crush. Wait, did Jason just say crush? No, that couldn’t be what this was. Jason wasn’t gay. At least, he thought that he wasn’t. 

Jason pushed the confusing green eyed boy out of his thoughts and got dressed for work and headed out.

He loved working at the library, it was peaceful and he could be left alone with his thoughts. His coworkers were all super nice. A few of the girls had tried flirting with him when he’d first started last semester, but they quickly realized he wasn’t interested in them like that. Besides, Jason never dated anyone he worked with, it was a terrible idea. The library had become one of his favorite places on campus, it was always dependable on being a calm environment. Which is why Jason was so shocked when he got to the back room, where the employees put their jackets and backpacks, and his coworkers were gathered together, all talking fairly loudly. This is the most commotion he’d seen at the library ever since he’d started. 

He walked up to the group and said, “Hey, what’s everyone looking at?” 

Nico and Will turned around and held up one of the “How Are We Doing?” notes, he was confused at first because one, no one ever wrote on these things, and two, why would they care so much about a review note, but then he saw what was actually written. 

“The librarian is really cute.” 

He realized what they were all talking about then, they were arguing about who it must have been written about. Everyone’s immediate assumption had been maybe Will had written it to Nico as an anonymous way to flirt with his boyfriend, but both Will and Nico denied having written it. Which begged the question, who had it been written about? And by whom?

Jason immediately found his mind drifting to the raven-haired boy, day dreaming about how maybe he’d written it about Jason. But that was ridiculous, they’d only spoken twice, and both conversations had been barely a minute long, there was no way that the other boy was reading into this as much as Jason was, Jason wasn’t even sure what ‘this’ was. And with that he’d gotten distracted again thinking about the boy from the last two days, he hoped that he’d see him again today. He’d looked so cute yesterday, wait, did he just use the word cute to describe a guy? Jason was so confused, but decided that thinking about the boy made him feel happy so he wasn’t going to stop.

The way the boys raven hair just fell into his face, it looked so messy, yet so on purpose at the same time, it made Jason want to reach out and brush the hair out of the guy’s eyes. Jason had to admit that yesterday when he’d seen the boy come in for a second time, his stomach had jumped into his throat, it had taken Jason at least an hour to get his composure back and figure out a way to casually end up in the same area as the boy again. He’d already put away all the books from that section of the library the night before when he’d originally met the dark-haired boy. Eventually he just decided to put some books away in the wrong place and go back later and fix it after the boy had left the library. When he finally made his way over to him the boy wasn’t looking and hadn’t noticed Jason come over, and he was unsure of what he should do in this situation. Jason had been hoping that the boy would start the conversation like he had the previous night, but he still managed to give Jason a way to start a conversation when he’d cleared his throat. It seemed strangely loud to Jason, but then again, his heart was beating in his ears so loudly that it was probably all in his head. Jason had only been able to keep up a conversation for about thirty seconds before he totally lost his cool and had to leave because he was so nervous. Jason didn’t understand why he was feeling the way he did about this boy, but that didn’t mean he was opposed to it. 

He finally zoned back into the conversation, Will and Nico were mostly arguing with each other about which of the two of them were cuter, Nico thought it was Will, whereas Will thought it was Nico. Reyna and Hazel were discussing the various cute boys they’d seen come to the library yesterday and which ones they wanted to have had written the note about them. 

“There was this really muscular, built, guy who came in yesterday. He came up to the counter to ask me how to login to the system. As I explained it to him he said he’d tried all that and it wasn’t working, so I decided to try it myself at my computer, I think I remember his name being Frank,” Hazel said to Reyna. 

“You always go for the tall ones Hazel,” Reyna laughed, “besides, I’ve got you beat, I saw the hottest guy come in yesterday. Tall, dark hair, he had a grey zip up hoodie-“

“You talked to him too?” Jason hastily interjected. He suddenly felt disheartened, he’d definitely read too much into the conversations he’d had with the raven-haired boy. Of course he was into girls, and of course he’d talked to Reyna, she was beautiful. He suddenly wasn’t in a good mood anymore. 

“Talked to him? God, I wish, that boy could get it, but nah I just saw him walk to the back,” replied Reyna. 

So maybe it wasn’t hopeless after all, Jason suddenly smiled widely. 

“What’re you so happy about sparky?” asked Nico. Jason rolled his eyes, he’d been having to put up with that nickname ever since Nico had found out Jason was an electrical engineering major and had given him a bunch of crap about being a nerd. He mostly only pretended to be annoyed, he almost enjoyed the nickname. While he knew that Nico would obviously not judge him for his crush on this boy, there was that word again, crush, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to admit it out loud. Plus, that would really open him up to some teasing from his coworkers. Getting this worked up over a guy he’d spoken to twice? That’s ridiculous. 

“Is there a crime against being happy Nico?” replied Jason, he really wanted to get Nico off this topic of conversation. 

“No crime, I just noticed you got really excited when Reyna mentioned that dark haired guy, anything you care to mention?” said Nico, with one of the most knowing smiles on his face. Jason thought about hitting him, but knew that that would be a terrible idea. Also, he knew he could never really hit Nico, he’d never hit anybody on purpose, except in football, but that was different. 

“I, I have no idea what you’re talking about Nico,” Jason replied, but he had started sweating and it got really hard to continue his sentence when Will started going ‘Ooooooo’ while standing behind Nico’s shoulder. “Look guys, we have work to be doing, so uh, yea, let’s get to it.” And with that Jason exited the room to the sound of his coworkers teasing laughter while his cheeks grew redder and redder.


	4. Chapter 4

Percy

**You goin to see library boy?**  
**You gonna kiss his face?**  
**xoxo**  
**hahahah**  
**Oh this is fantastic**

Percy hated Piper, it was official. They’d always had that classic sibling love hate relationship, but after this scorching he was getting from her after telling her about his librarian crush, he definitely hated her. 

After he told her that he was going to the library again she wouldn’t let him go before he told her what was going on. He tried to deny anything, but based on the texts that he kept receiving every five seconds, that obviously didn’t work. To his honor though, it did take her tackling him to the ground and holding him in a back-hammer lock before he finally told her. After he did, she immediately let him go and just started laughing at him, and ever since that she’d been giving him shit like she always does when she found out about his crushes. 

He’d grabbed his things as fast as he could and had left for the library while Piper teased him out the door.

**Have fun with your new boyyyyyfrieeeeend ;)**

Percy was so busy reading Pipers most recent taunt that he didn’t notice the incredibly flustered blond who walked right in front of him. They collided with each other and then they promptly collided with the floor. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sor-,“ Percy started to say, before he realized who he’d collided with. It was him. 

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t looki-,” the blond started to respond, but he also stopped when he finally looked up from picking up his things and made eye contact. 

Percy could feel his stomach fluttering like crazy, but he didn’t want to just sit there staring at the cute librarian. Percy had never realized before how blue the guy’s eyes were though, it made it difficult for Percy to look away and focus. He finally managed to tear himself away and broke the mounting tension between them by saying, “Fancy running into you here,” and then laughed at his own ridiculous pun. ‘Fancy running into you here,’ was that the best he could come up with? Percy was off his game; this librarian was making things more difficult than usual and he couldn’t figure out why. It’s not that Percy was a player, but he’d definitely ‘dated’ a lot of guys, at least that’s what they’d called it, but none of them were ever serious relationships, the longest only lasted three months. Percy had always been able to keep his cool with his exes, but this librarian was making that difficult for him this time. 

The librarian laughed nervously, “Good one, I’m really sorry, I wasn’t paying attention and-,” he started to say before Percy cut him off. 

“Don’t sweat it, here let me help you up,” and with that Percy grabbed the librarians hand and elbow and pulled him up. His hands were slightly calloused and he had a very strong grip, Percy knew he wanted to keep holding his hand, but unfortunately the blond would probably just find it creepy if he held his hand too long. When Percy looked up from their now separated hands he noticed that the librarian’s cheeks were turning bright red. Did he do that? Maybe, but it was always better not to get his hopes up, with the very true possibility of the guy being straight. 

The librarian, with flushed cheeks, smiled a nervous half grin and said, “Thanks, I’m uh Jason by the way.” When he finished his sentence, he held out his hand to Percy for him to shake. All Percy wanted to do though was to hold it, instead of having to let go so soon again, but he shook the blonds hand and he felt butterflies the whole time. 

“Good to meet you Jason, for the third time,” Percy laughed, “I’m Percy, Percy Jackson.” 

“Grace, uh is my last name, Jason Grace,” said Jason. Percy thought it was adorable how nervous Jason seemed. “So, are you here studying for that … what final was it again?”

“Anatomy,” Percy smirked, thinking about the anatomy studying he’d rather be doing with Jason, he really liked that name, Jason, it fit the librarian. Jason looked really nice today, which only drove Percy crazier, he was wearing another pair of khaki shorts, how many did this kid have, Percy wondered. He was also wearing a blue polo shirt, the blue of the shirt really made Jason’s eyes pop. 

Percy nearly started laughing out loud at the reaction Jason was having to whatever Percy had just done, it hadn’t seemed that obvious to Percy what he was really thinking about. It looked like Jason was about to have a heart attack, his eyes were practically bulging out of his head, and he started laughing nervously again. It was a really cute laugh, and Percy couldn’t help grinning because of it, he also wondered what his regular laugh sounded like. 

Jason swallowed loudly and said, “Well, uh, I hope you get a good grade, since you’ve been stopping by so much to study.” It was obvious Jason was about to make his regularly scheduled exit from the conversation, but Percy decided to throw a curve ball. 

“Actually, I finished all my studying yesterday, just wanted to stop by for the view,” Percy said with a smug grin, then winked at Jason and promptly turned on his heel and walked out of the library.


	5. Chapter 5

Jason

Three days. It had been three days since Percy had been back to the library, and Jason was losing his fucking mind. Percy had made that comment, that god damn comment that had been driving Jason insane for three days now, and had disappeared. Was that what Percy did? Was he some weird player who made guys like him and then vanished into the night like a shadow. But honestly, who made comments like, “Just wanted to see the view,”? It was confusing Jason about what he wanted it to mean. He had never been so conflicted about another guy before, it was probably time to officially talk to someone about this. This called for the smartest person he knew. His sister. Annabeth. 

Jason reached over to his backpack next to his bed, pulled out his laptop, and opened facetime, he was about to click on Annabeth’s name, but lost his nerve at the last second. He began to run his hands through his hair exasperatedly and pace around the room. 

“Fuck,” Jason muttered, “fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Each time getting louder. Why was he having such a hard time calling Annabeth. She was his sister, of course she’d be okay with whatever he told her, but the small possibility of her not being okay with it, was terrifying to Jason. She was everything to him. They weren’t technically related by blood, but his mom had married her dad, and both of them were terrible. Honestly, his mom was a raging alcoholic and her dad was never around, he just didn’t seem to care about any of them. How the two of them had ever gotten together was beyond Jason, but at least it had gotten him a sister. Plus, nobody could really tell they weren’t blood related, they looked like they could have been. She had grey eyes and he had blue, but that’s about where the differences stopped. They both had extremely blond hair, and were both incredibly athletic, he’d played football, track/field, and had played in a few summer lacrosse leagues, while Annabeth had been a field hockey player and a track star. She was a year older than him, and they’d been siblings now for 12 years and Jason had always felt like she was really three years older than him at least, with how mature and intelligent she was compared to him. 

“Fuck!” he yelled one last time, before power slamming the call button on his laptop. Jason decided that the most annoying sound on the entire god damn planet was the ringing of a facetime call. Jason could feel his heart pounding in his ears and his stomach dropped. Those 20 seconds of ringer were probably the worst of Jason’s life, he started to imagine every worst-case scenario that could happen. He almost decided to hang up, but right before he could hit this button Annabeth picked up. 

“Hey Jason! What’s up? How’s finals week going? When do you move out of the dorms? Is the dining hall food still as terrible as last semester? Have you met any new people?” Annabeth questioned off, she was the queen of rapid fire questions. 

“Whoa, whoa,” Jason laughed, “how do you find time to breathe while asking questions so fast?”

“It’s not my fault you haven’t called in two months, I have a lot of questions stock piled,” she responded indignantly. 

“Technically, you haven’t called me either, it’s a two-way street miss,” Jason retorted quickly and smiled. He hadn’t realized how much he missed talking to his sister face to face, well, face to screen and computer camera technically. They texted plenty enough, but it wasn’t the same as having a conversation like this with the live feedback of each other’s commentary. 

Annabeth laughed and held up her hands in a surrender, “You got me there, but answer my questions anyways.” 

“Okay, okay, finals week is going fine, I finished all my exams, I’m just waiting to find out what grades I got in my classes. I move out in about a week, and then I’m moving into an apartment with my friend Leo, who was my roommate this year if you remember, and his girlfriend Calypso. The dining hall food is always terrible, I can’t believe you have to ask. And define met new people exactly,” as Jason said the last sentence he had a feeling that it was going to segue into talking about Percy. Which, granted, was the reason for him calling her, but it didn’t make him any less nervous to know that the conversation was actually going to happen. 

“What do you mean define it? Does this mean that you’ve met met somebody?” Annabeth asked excitedly. “Oh my gosh Jason, who is she!” 

Jason’s stomach dropped again. He had no idea what he was supposed to say, it was like every word of the English language had completely left his head. It made him sad that Annabeth had said ‘she,’ but he couldn’t even blame her, he’d only ever dated girls before, there was absolutely no reason for her to suspect it could be anybody but a female. 

“Well, um, see …” Jason started, he had started sweating, his stomach was churning the way it used to do before he was about to compete in a state game when he was in high school. It felt like he was going to throw up. “Honestly, it’s probably nothing, they probably aren’t even reading into it that much, we’ve only talked, like, three times.” 

“Okay, well, tell me about her, maybe I can help you figure it all out,” she responded cheerfully, he knew all she wanted to do was help, but this was making it so difficult on Jason. 

He continued to stare at the screen blankly for another awkward 15 seconds. It took him so long to finally do something that Annabeth messaged him over text to see if he’d gotten frozen on facetime. 

“Well … she is, uh, well, see, she’s technically not a she, per say, exactly ...” Jason finally said before trailing off and waiting for Annabeth’s response. 

Without missing a beat Annabeth says, “Oh, is she, like, non-binary or something?”

Well, maybe that was a good sign, Jason thought, if she can be so accepting of nontraditional genders than maybe she’ll be just as accepting of Jason’s new crush. 

“Well, not exactly. She’s not actually a she at all, it’s a guy, Annabeth, I met a guy, at the library, we’ve talked a few times, his name is Percy, and honestly, it’s really confusing me. That’s why I decided to call you. I wanted your input,” Jason blurted out quickly, before he could change his mind about sharing it with her. 

Annabeth sat there for a few seconds looking contemplative, each second of it terrifying Jason more and more, before saying, “Okay, well, what’s he look like? If he’s got you in this much of a tizzy he must be damn good looking.” She finished with a soft, knowing smile on her face and Jason had never loved his sister more. He felt such a rush of relief from her acceptance that he felt his eyes start to fill with tears and he started laughing a little hysterically before calming down and sniffling back his tears.   
“Um, he’s tall, but a little shorter than I am,” Jason said while laughing through his happy tears, “and he’s got the most interesting eyes I’ve ever seen, they’re green, but not like the grass, more like the ocean, and he’s got black wavy hair that falls in his face all the time. I don’t really know much about him, at all really, but when we’ve talked at the library I get the sense that he’s flirting with me. I don’t know though, I’ve never tried flirting with another guy before, so maybe he’s just being a guy and being a friend, I feel so out of my element Annabeth.” Jason had a huge smile travelling across his face, the relief was washing over him like a wave. He casually rubbed the tears from his face, hopefully not drawing too much attention to the fact that he’d been crying. 

Annabeth smiled really wide at her little brother, obviously happy about her brother being interested in someone again after his girlfriend from high school, Drew. “Well, he sounds very attractive, has he given any definite hints that he’s flirting with you, I may not know much about how guys flirt with each other, but I know plenty about how they flirt with girls and they’re usually exceedingly straight forward, excuse my unintentional pun.”

Jason laughed and said, “Well, we did run into each other a few days ago in the library, and I mean, we literally ran into each other, like afterwards we fell onto the floor because of it. That’s when I got his name, and I asked him if he was back in the library to study again, since that was now the third day in a row I’d seen him at the library. And he said this comment, but I don’t know, I can’t tell if it means anything.”

“What was the comment, come on, don’t keep me in suspense,” Annabeth said impatiently. 

“He said, ‘I finished studying yesterday, today I just came by for the view,’ and that morning my coworkers had found this note in the jar where we collect the review notes that students can leave about how to improve the library and the staff, but the note hadn’t been about any of that. The note had said, ‘The librarian is cute,’ I doubt they’re related things though, I mean, I’d only had two conversations with the guy before the note and collision incident,” Jason said, and the more he talked about it, the more it did seem like the note and the comment had been related, but he didn’t want to get his hopes up. It had been three days since he’d seen Percy, who had basically dropped off the face of the earth. 

“Okay, wow. That comment, high key, full send, flirting. Plus, very smooth flirting, I’m impressed, that’s quite the line. Also, it’s a very similar comment made on the note, I would wager, that it was him who had written it, why do you doubt it so much? It seems fairly obvious from the evidence you’re giving me,” Annabeth said. It was nice to hear her confirm what he was thinking out loud, it didn’t answer the question of Percy’s silence though.

“Do you really think so? It’s been like three days since that and I haven’t seen him or heard from him at all, maybe he was just fucking with me or something Annie,” Jason said, trying really hard to keep his hopes from soaring, he hadn’t liked anyone else in over a year and he didn’t want this one to keep him from liking someone again for an even longer amount of time. 

“Look, in my opinion, I think he was definitely flirting with you, and if he is fucking with you, I’ll personally come down there and kick his ass to the curb, cause nobody fucks with my little brother. As far as the three days of radio silence, keep in mind it is finals week, he might be busy, plus he really made a bold move with his direct comment to you, so maybe he’s freaked too, for all he knows you’re totally straight. Speaking of, not that it matters to me, you’re my brother and I love you, but are you gay or do you think you’re somewhere in between?” asked Annabeth, and, to be frank, Jason and no fucking clue what he was. This conversation with Annabeth had made Jason more comfortable and confident about the situation, but it in no way answered the questions he had about himself. 

“I don’t know, truly, I’ll probably figure it out the more time goes on, but I’ll let you know when I do,” Jason replied thoughtfully. 

“Sounds good to me Jason. Hey, I gotta go, I’ve got a final in an hour and I wanna get one more crammed study session in beforehand,” said Annabeth. 

Jason smiled and said, “Bye, good luck on your test! And Annabeth?”

“Yea, Jason?” she responded.

He smiled softly and said, “Thanks.” 

She smiled at him, waved, and said, “Of course.” And then she ended the call.


	6. Chapter 6

Percy

“Alright would you quit freaking out man, it’s not that big of a deal,” Frank told Percy for what felt like the billionth time. Percy was freaking out about the comment that he’d made to Jason, he’d regretted it from about five seconds after he’d said it. And he’d winked at Jason too, oh my god, what had he been thinking? 

“It is a big fucking deal man, what if he’s straight, he’s gonna think I’m creeptacular to the max,” Percy yelled, how could he have been so careless? He had never, in all the years that he had dated guys, done something so irresponsible. He’d been so careful to make sure he knew the orientation of the guys he met before really flirting with them. Especially after he’d been beat up on the playground when he was little, he’d told his best friend Luke that he’d had a crush on him, and Luke had punched him in the nose. At the time, Percy hadn’t realized that he was different from the other boys, he thought that liking other guys was normal. And he’d gotten punched over it, so no, Percy did not make a habit of winking at random guys in public who he barely knew. 

“Okay, okay, you don’t need to yell about it though,” Frank held up his hands in a defensive position. 

Percy sighed, “Sorry man, you’re right, it’s just, I don’t know what it is about this guy. He makes my brain say stupid shit when I’m around him.” Percy laid back onto his bed and stared at the ceiling of his room. Frank was sitting at the swivel chair at Percy’s desk. Percy and Frank had been roommates last year in the dorms, and Frank was one of the nicest guys Percy had ever met. When Percy had told Frank about him being gay, so that there would be enough time for Frank to find a new roommate if it bothered him, Frank had simply said that nothing like that mattered to him, he just wanted to be Percy’s friend. And friends they were, from the first day they lived together, Frank had been Percy’s best friend. Percy wanted to live with Frank this year too, but Frank was on the football team for their college and got free room and board, so Frank was back in the dorms again this year, which is why Frank now spent 90% of his time hanging out at Percy and Piper’s apartment. Apparently, the new freshman on his floor this year were more obnoxious than the stereotypical freshman would be. Percy didn’t mind him stopping by all the time though. 

“Hey!” Frank suddenly exclaimed loudly, making Percy jump. “I’ve got an idea to see if this guy thinks you’re creepy or if he thinks you’re hot stuff,” Frank laughed at his last comment. 

Percy looked at Frank expectantly, waiting for him to continue, “Well, what’s the fuckin idea man?” 

“Alright, so you got his full name, right?” Frank asked, obviously hopeful. 

“Uh, yea, it’s Jason,” Percy said confused, he’d already told Frank the librarian’s name, he failed to see how this was going to magically fix all his problems. 

“No, no, what’s his full name, like last name too,” Frank corrected, still looking hopefully at Percy. 

Percy looked at him quizzically in return before saying, “Grace, Jason Grace.” 

Suddenly Frank was swiveling into action, he spun around to face Percy’s computer monitor on the desk. In five seconds, he’d logged in and pulled up Facebook. All too late Percy realized what Frank was doing. 

“FUCK! Frank, don’t you dare!” Percy yelled as he lunged across the room. He was too slow though. Just as Percy tackled Frank out of his chair, which, holy shit, was a terrible idea since Frank was a left tackle on the football team and felt like a god damn tree trunk, Frank clicked the mouse. 

‘Friend Request Sent to Jason Grace’ popped up on the screen. 

Frank was under Percy on the floor laughing his ass off while Percy leaned up to read the screen. “God dammit Zhang!” Percy punched Frank in the shoulder, probably a little harder than was necessary, but Percy didn’t completely care at the present moment. 

Frank only laughed it off anyways, Percy’s swimmer muscles were nothing compared to Franks football tree trunk arms. “Hey,” Frank laughed, “I did you a favor man,” he said as he pushed Percy off him. “Now, if he accepts the request, you know that he didn’t think you were creepy.” Frank looked at him smugly.

“Yea, and you’re forgetting the other possibility! If he doesn’t accept it then I need to live with the fact that I’m a creep who winked at a straight guy and tried to friend him on Facebook three days after the fact. Thanks,” Percy said as he face planted into his mattress. “Ughhh,” he groaned, “is this what people feel like when they have crushes on people?”

“Typically, yes, have you not experienced this before? Haven’t you had like seven boyfriends before?” Frank asked. 

“Okay, first of all, it wasn’t seven,” Percy took a beat, “It was six. And secondly, none of those were ever serious and you know that. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this before, at least not this much.” Percy wanted to melt into his bed and stay there for the next century. He felt absolutely mortified that Frank had sent a friend request to Jason. 

*ding* 

Percy suddenly bolted upright and looked expectantly at Frank who’d made his way back into Percy’s desk chair. “What was that?” Percy asked hopefully. 

Frank spun around in the chair to face the computer screen again. “Okay, it was a Facebook notification. Are you ready for me to click on it?” he asked. Frank looked over to Percy for affirmation. Percy had wrapped his hands around the back of his head and he had a pained look on his face. He groaned once before shutting his eyes and nodding. He heard the mouse click behind his clenched eyes and waited for the news. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, hold onto your hats for the main announcement-,” Frank started to say in an announcer’s voice. 

“Frank just tell it to me straight, I can’t handle the suspense,” Percy complained.   
“Alright, jeez, Mr. Impatient over here, well, it’s not Jason, someone sent you a candy crush invitation,” Frank finally finished. Percy slumped back into the bed and groaned, very loudly this time. 

It had apparently caught the attention of Piper, because she walked into Percy’s room and said, “Who’s dying in here?” 

Frank looked over at Percy sympathetically, “I think he might be, I sent a friend request to Jason for him, and the only notification he’s gotten since then is a candy crush invitation. It’s pretty tragic if you ask me.” 

“It’s your fault you dick!” Percy mumbled into a pillow that he’d pulled over his face. 

Piper giggled and said, “Look Perce, I get that you’re mortified right now, but at least if he doesn’t accept the request you know it wasn’t meant to be and you can go find a new librarian to ogle over.” Percy groaned again, that was the problem, he wanted to keep ogling over this particular librarian. 

*ding*

This time all three of them snapped their heads to the screen, they all stared for a few seconds and did nothing. Percy looked like he was in pain, his eyes strained, as if he was trying to decipher the exact outcome of this notification without having to click on it. Frank was the first one to move, “Well, it’s not gonna open itself, time for the big reveal.” He clicked the mouse and then didn’t say anything for what felt like an eternity. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, and Percy you better let me finish my introduction this time,” Frank said while Percy groaned again, “hold onto your hats for the main announcement. Can I get a drumroll please?” 

“Frank, just say it!” Percy yelled.

“Oh, come on Percy, where’s your sense of humor,” Piper giggled, and gave Frank a drumroll on her legs. 

Suddenly Frank swiveled the chair around to look Percy in the face, and gave him a huge smile, “Congrats bro, you are officially not a creep.” 

“Holy shit! What? Oh my god? Are you being serious? I swear to god Frank, if you’re fucking with me, I’m gonna kill you!” Percy started freaking out, was this actually happening. Could Jason have really accepted that friend request after what Percy had said, after the wink?

“I’m not fucking with you Percy, see for yourself man,” Frank said smugly. 

Percy pulled himself off the bed, walked over to the desk, and looked at the computer screen. Sure enough, there it was, bright as day, ‘Jason Grace has accepted your friend request.’ 

Percy stared at the screen for a moment before throwing his hands into the air and yelling, “WOO! Fuck yea!” Piper and Frank jumped at the volume of Percy’s voice and then just stared at him as he danced around the room like a dork. “Wait,” Percy suddenly said, interrupting his dancing, “what does this mean? Does it mean he likes me?” He looked expectantly at Piper for the answer. 

“Don’t look at me, I don’t know how these things work, you know I’ve never dated anybody,” Piper said. 

Percy then looked to Frank for advice, “Look man, based on what you’ve told me, this is probably a good sign for you.” Percy started to dance around the room again. “Or, this Jason guy could just be an incredibly dense straight guy who didn’t realize you were flirting, its more unlikely, but still a possibility. 

Percy paused momentarily in his dancing to consider this before saying, “Nah, I don’t like that one as much, I’m gonna go with he likes me.” Nothing could stop Percy’s joy right now, so Piper and Frank just let him continue to badly dance around his room. 

Piper laughed, “Alright dancing queen, I actually had a reason for coming in here before, we’ve got some new neighbors and I wanted to know if you wanted to meet them.”

“I can’t interrupt this good mood right now Pipes, just tell them I say hi,” Percy said.

“Okay, well, I’ve met two of the three so far, their names are Leo and Calypso,” Piper said before walking out of Percy’s room.


	7. Chapter 7

Jason

Jason pulled into the parking lot of his new apartment complex. Leo and Calypso had moved in earlier this week all at once, but Jason had been making smaller trips throughout the week, this was his last trip. He pulled into his parking spot and killed the ignition. He knew he would probably need Leo’s help for some of the stuff, but he could get the smaller things done first without having to bother Leo. He hopped out of the car, grabbing a few bags to throw over his shoulder and a box full of DVD’s in his arms. He started to make his way toward the door that led to the stairwell, when one of the bags on his shoulder started to roll forward down his arm. This threw off the balance that Jason had made for the box of DVD’s and it started to slip out of his hands. He’d almost lost his grip on it when a girl came running up and grabbed it at the last second. 

She smiled at him and said, “It looked like you could use some help.” 

Jason returned her smile and said, “Thank you so much,” he repositioned the bag onto his shoulder and continued, “I can take it back though, I wouldn’t wanna force you to help me.”

“It’s no trouble I promise,” she responded, something about her seemed very familiar to Jason, he couldn’t figure out why though. 

“I’m up on the third floor, I couldn’t ask you to carry it for me, really I can take it back,” Jason said, he didn’t like burdening anybody when it came to helping him. 

“Well, then you’re in luck because I live on the third floor too and was already going there,” she smiled. 

Jason realized there wouldn’t be any arguing with this girl on the issue any longer, so he shrugged and said, “Well, thank you then.” 

They walked into the building and began making their way up the stairwell. 

“So, I take it you’re new to the building?” the girl asked from ahead of him. 

“Yea, I just started moving in a few days ago with two of my friends,” he responded. 

“That’s cool! I live here with my brother,” she said. Jason thought about that and thought about living with Annabeth in an apartment kind of setting. He had a feeling they would get into way too many arguments about whether coasters were a necessity and decided living with Annabeth would not be a good idea. The thought made him chuckle. 

“Something funny?” she asked him.

“I was just thinking about how if I lived with my sister, we’d probably be at each other’s throats all the time, you and your brother must really get along,” Jason replied. 

She laughed, opened the door to the third floor, and said, “Well, we’ve definitely had those moments, but yea, my brother and I have always been close, especially since we’re only a year apart, he’s been my best friend my whole life, so when I came out to college at the same place he already went, it just made sense for us to live together.” 

“That’s really cool, that you guys are so close, me and my sister are similar, but we haven’t been siblings for as long as you and your brother have,” Jason said. 

Piper looked like she wanted to ask about that, but decided against it, instead she said, “So, which apartment is yours so I know where to take this box.” 

And just at that moment, they’d reached it, so Jason pointed to the door that said 342, the girl then smiled and said, “Oh my gosh! You live with Leo and Calypso?” 

Now Jason was very confused, he was sure he’d never met this girl, despite how familiar she seemed, how did she know his roommates? 

“Uh, yea, how do you know them?” he inquired. 

“I met them the first day that they moved in, I’m your neighbor, I live right here!” she said excitedly as she pointed to the door directly across the hall from Jason’s. He was really happy about that, it was always good to make friends with your neighbors and this girl seemed really nice. 

“Oh, awesome!” Jason exclaimed. 

“Yea, your roommates are super nice by the way,” she replied. 

Jason smiled and said sarcastically, ‘Yea, they’re alright I guess. Hey, once I move in, you should come over and hang out later, bring your brother too, we can have a little neighbor get together.” 

The girl smiled and said, “Cool, sounds good! Here’s your box back also,” she said laughing as she handed the box back to Jason and then opening his door for him. 

“Thanks again, so much for helping me,” Jason said about to close the door, “Oh, wait, what’s your name by the way?” 

“Really, it was no big deal, and its Piper,” she said as she held out her hand for him to shake before realizing his hands were full. “Well, I guess I’ll see you in a little bit!” and with that she turned and went into her own apartment. Jason still hadn’t quite figured out why she looked so familiar to him, but the green of her eyes kept nagging at the back of his mind as he turned to go into his apartment. 

***

**Leo, could you come here and give me a hand with this?**

Jason texted to Leo from the stairwell. He’d tried to carry the TV all by himself, but had gotten half way up the stairs and realized that if he didn’t want to drop it, he was going to need help from Leo. He didn’t get a reply but soon after he heard Leo’s feet running down the hall to the door to the stairwell. 

“Hey bud, I didn’t know you were trying to carry the TV all by yourself, let me grab this side from you,” he said as he took one of the sides of the box from Jason. Together they carried the TV the rest of the way up the stairs and into their apartment. 

Leo slumped into the couch immediately after putting the box down, while Jason started to take the TV out of the box to get it ready to set up. Leo threw his arm around Calypso who had come to sit on the couch with him, and Jason observed jealously as she planted a kiss on his cheek. Jason thought about Percy again, and realized he missed him. The few conversations that Jason had had with Percy had brought him more happiness than he’d realized. His mind wandered to the friend request he’d received from Percy earlier in the week, and once again considered the meaning behind it. Jason struggled to remain as unhopeful as possible, since he was still worried he was reading too much into it again. 

Jason finally got the TV out of the box and onto the stand Calypso had found at Goodwill the day before. “Leo, do you know how to hook up the PlayStation and stuff to this?” Jason asked, he might be majoring to be an electrical engineer, but Leo was still better than him at hooking up everyday appliances and maintaining them when they broke. 

“Yea, I’ve got the cords in my room, let me go grab them,” he responded before heaving himself off the couch and walking to the master bedroom of their apartment. It was about double the size of Jason’s room, which he didn’t mind, he didn’t need that much space. Besides, Leo was sharing the room with Calypso, so it made sense that they would get the bigger room. When Leo had first mentioned wanting to have Calypso live with them, Jason had been wary, the two of them had only been dating for a few months at that point and Jason didn’t want there to be any drama with the apartment if they broke up while living together. Jason had to admit now though that the two of them were pretty much perfect together. Calypso could handle Leo’s shit and deal it right back to him, and she put up with his insane love of cars and all things mechanical, and even contributed to some of that obsession herself. Not to mention that she was a very cleanly person, and helped Jason with his laundry and dishes all the time. 

Leo came back from his bedroom with a box of cords in hand and began stringing them up and connecting console after console to the TV. Jason didn’t even bother checking to see if it was right, he knew Leo wouldn’t have messed up on something so simple.

“Oh, guys, by the way, Piper and her brother are gonna stop by sometime soon probably. I ran into her earlier and invited her over to hang out,” Jason said as he walked into the kitchen to start making some lunch. 

“Okay! It’ll be nice to finally meet her brother,” Calypso said from the living room. 

“Wait you haven’t met him yet?” Jason asked, hadn’t Piper said she’d met Leo and Calypso the first day they moved in? Why hadn’t her brother come out to meet them too? Jason worried he was some hermit perhaps, but Piper didn’t seem that way, and she’d said her and her brother were close. 

‘Oh, well,’ Jason thought to himself, he’d just have to wait and see what this brother was like. 

He pulled out a pot and filled it with water. Just after he’d put it on the stove to boil he heard a knock at the door. He figured it must have been Piper and her brother, so he didn’t leave the kitchen immediately. 

Leo was the one who answered the door, Jason heard him say, “Hey, guys, Jason told us you’d be stopping by.” 

Piper started to reply, but Jason couldn’t tell what she said before someone, her brother he assumed, cut her off, “Wait, who said we were stopping by?”

Jason felt his stomach drop and his legs started to tingle like they were falling asleep. That voice, Jason recognized it, and in that moment he realized why it felt like he knew Piper somehow. Jason made his way out of the kitchen and there, standing in Jason’s own doorway, his green eyes staring at Jason from behind a slight curtain of his black hair, was him. 

Piper smiled at Jason and said, “Hey, this is my brother I was telling you about, Percy.”


	8. Chapter 8

Jason

For a moment, it seemed like the earth stood still. Jason was sure he looked like a fool, it felt like his eyes were bugging out of his head and his mouth was hanging open like a fish, but he couldn’t seem to pull himself back to reality. He knew that he should be saying something, that’s what a normal person would do in this situation, but his mind had once again gone blank in the presence of Percy. He hoped that would eventually wear off, but it didn’t seem to be happening anytime soon. 

Percy was, once again, the first one to speak, he smiled and it reached all the way across his face, Jason hoped he was the cause of that. “Actually, Pipes, me and Jason have met before,” he said, Jason thought he saw Percy wink again, but it must have been his mind playing tricks on him. 

Piper looked at Percy, then back to Jason, looking confused, then something seemed to click for her, because she turned back to Percy and had a smug grin on her face. ‘What was that about,’ Jason thought. 

There was another awkward silence in the room for a moment before Jason realized everyone seemed to be waiting for him to say something. He was the one that had invited them over after all. 

Jason let out an awkward coughing laugh and said, “Uh, yea, me and Percy, sort of, ran into each other at the library the other day.” Jason could feel his palms sweating. This was going to be a very difficult time for him if he couldn’t get a grip. He made the mistake of looking at Percy again though, who was staring very intently back at Jason with a knowing smile on his face, almost resembling a smirk. Jason’s stomach did a back flip. 

‘Get a grip Grace, he’s just a guy … a very attractive guy, but still, just another guy, you can handle this,’ Jason thought to himself, trying to give himself a pep talk. Even he knew it was unconvincing. 

“Yea, Percy told me about that the other day,” Piper responded, while giving Percy a look, Jason wished he had Annabeth here. 

“Well, come on in guys, you don’t need to stand in the doorway the whole time,” Calypso said, which Jason was grateful for. Calypso got up from the couch and made her way over to Jason and the kitchen. “I’m gonna help Jason make lunch, so just grab a seat, Leo was about to pick out a movie, so make sure he doesn’t choose another ‘Fast and Furious’ movie please,” she called out to Piper and Percy. 

“You know you love them too babe,” Leo yelled after her. 

Calypso laughed quietly before grabbing Jason by his elbow and pulling him into the kitchen. Rather forcefully he might add. 

“Ow, damn Calypso, your gonna give me a bruise with that grip,” Jason complained. 

He looked at Calypso then and realized she had not pulled him into the kitchen to help make lunch, “What was that out there? You froze up like a deer in the head lights when those two walked in. Are you sick or something?” 

Jason knew he was going to have to explain to Calypso what was up, she could sniff out a lie like a bloodhound. He took a steadying breath before saying, “Look, that Percy guy, I’ve met him like three times before this. I don’t know what it is about him that makes him so special, but when I look at him my stomach does somersaults and I forget how to speak correctly.” Jason was blushing from ear to ear, his whole face the color of a tomato, by the time he finished talking.   
It didn’t help that Calypso was giving him a look she usually reserved for looking at puppies with. “Awhhhh, Jason has a crush!” Calypso squeaked. 

“Shhh,” Jason hushed her, the last thing he needed was Percy knowing about his embarrassing school boy crush Jason had on him. Jason walked over to the boiling pot on the stove and put the pasta in. While that was boiling, he wanted to bring out some snacks, especially if they were going to start a movie. Jason reached into the cupboard and grabbed a few bags of chips and a few bowls to put them in. “Hey, would you wanna help me carry these things out to the living room?” Jason turned to Calypso and asked. 

Calypso giggled and winked before saying, “Leave it all to me.” With that she walked back out of the kitchen. Jason tried to stop her, he reached out for her arm, but she spun away from him sticking her tongue out. What the fuck did, ‘Leave it to me,’ mean? He was going to kill her. Jason started to grab the bowls of chips by himself then before hearing Calypso from the living room say, “Hey I really need to use the bathroom, but Jason needs some help in the kitchen carrying some stuff in.” 

Leo started to reply, “Yea, oka-,” but he stopped suddenly, he wondered what Calypso had done to shut him up, Jason just hoped it wasn’t something overbearingly obvious. 

Besides, Jason didn’t need any help, he could totally carry these four bowls of chips without dropping them, he just needed to balance them right. He put all his focus into getting the bowls to balance, two on each arm, he didn’t even notice the dark-haired figure who had entered the kitchen. 

Percy walked up to Jason, and Jason nearly dropped all of the chips. “Here, let me grab a few of those,” he said. He started to reach for two of the bowls, but the way Jason had arranged them, Percy had to get very close to Jason to transfer the chips over without them falling to the ground. Percy put his arms out underneath Jason’s and grabbed the two bowls that Jason had balanced against his biceps and chest. Jason knew Percy was grabbing those because they were the ones Jason had the least control over, but every time their skin touched Jason felt electricity in the contact. It made it incredibly difficult for Jason to focus on not dropping the other two bowls in his hands. The exchange only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an hour had passed by the time Percy pulled away with two bowls of chips in his hands and a triumphant smile on his face. 

Jason tried to say something, but his face had gone slack, he attempted a smile but it probably came across as half-hearted and uncomfortable, why wasn’t Percy having as much trouble with this as he was? 

“We better get back out there, I think Piper was trying to pick a chic flic when I left, and I cannot take that lying down,” Percy said. 

Jason followed him out of his kitchen into the living room, when they approached the couches Percy raised the chips into the air and said, “I come bearing gifts,” before dramatically placing them on the coffee table. Jason laughed half-heartedly again, his palms sweaty from nerves. That only got worse when he saw the seating arrangement. Calypso had taken the main couch with Leo and Piper, so the only spots left available for him and Percy was the two-seater couch, the love seat. He looked over to Calypso who gave him a wink and then threw feet onto Leo’s lap. 

“We decided to watch ‘The Little Mermaid’ by the way,” Piper said to him and Percy. 

Percy tossed a fist in the air and said, “Fuck yea!” Jason furrowed his brow at that, he wouldn’t have expected “The Little Mermaid” to be a favorite of Percy’s. 

Percy plopped down on the couch and Jason tentatively took the spot next to him. He tried to put some space between the two of them, but the couch didn’t allow for that, despite Jason’s efforts, their legs remained in contact. Jason’s nerves felt like they were going haywire, every ending a live wire. 

Piper hit play on the remote and hopped up to turn the lights out in the room, Calypso must have pulled the blinds because when the lights went out it was nearly pitch black aside from the TV screen. Jason suddenly was unsure of what to do with his hands, what did he usually do with them, nothing felt natural and he was second guessing everything he did. He ended up crossing his fingers and laying his hands in his lap, despite knowing how dorky he probably looked, he couldn’t decide on anything else. Compared to Percy, who was casually lounging on the couch with his legs splayed out in front of him and leaning against the armrest, Jason looked straight as a board, his feet directly under his knees and his back straight up to the back of the couch. 

It was actually incredibly uncomfortable, but every movement to Jason felt amplified a hundred times with the lights turned out, especially with Percy sitting directly next to him. Just as Jason considered shifting Percy started moving, he shifted his weight to towards Jason slightly, and then threw his arm around the back of the couch. It wasn’t technically around Jason’s shoulders, since the only part of Percy’s arm that was touching him was the very top of his bicep, the rest was on the outside edge of the couch, still Jason heart started thumping his chest so loudly he was surprised anyone could hear the movie. 

Calypso got up eventually and took the pasta out of the pan that Jason had forgotten about and served it up to those who wanted it. Jason took a bowl, but Percy said he’d already ate before coming over. As Jason ate his pasta he was all too aware of how close Percy was to him, he could feel his body heat radiating like a furnace. Jason wanted to be closer to him, but was petrified by fear, Jason had never been one for flirting, he’d only had one relationship before and she had done all the leg work for him, not to mention that he was a freshman in high school back then. This was different and he knew it, which is what terrified him so much. 

Neither of them moved then for the next twenty or so minutes, until finally Jason allowed himself to relax into the couch, and by extension into Percy slightly. Jason extended his legs out and slouched into the couch, as he did this he felt Percy’s arm across his shoulder blades. He hadn’t realized that Percy had moved his arm forward on the couch. Jason started to shift his weight to the left, away from Percy’s arm when he felt Percy’s fingertips graze his shoulder. It felt like where they had touched him his skin was on fire. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to look at Percy and realized that Percy had been doing the same, but quickly averted his gaze when he saw Jason looking. Maybe he was just as nervous as Jason was after all. Despite his calm posture, Percy’s face looked very concentrated in that moment, more serious than “The Little Mermaid” would have called for, Percy was probably trying to figure out if Jason was okay with his arm where it was, the fingertips on his shoulder had been a test Jason assumed. He was nervous out of his mind, but he decided to not make Percy suffer, since this was actually what Jason wanted, and so Jason relaxed even farther into the couch and against Percy’s arm.


	9. Chapter 9

Percy

Holy fuck. Percy still couldn’t believe how fucking lucky he was, Jason was his neighbor, his fucking neighbor! When his sister had said they were going to their new neighbors to hang out, Percy had reluctantly agreed. Originally, he wanted to go to the gym, but Piper had convinced him to come, she said it was a good idea to meet the neighbors, what had really sold the deal though was Piper had said the new neighbor who had invited them was cute. Little did Percy know that said ‘cute neighbor,’ was Jason. When they’d walked into his apartment and Leo had said Jason’s name Percy could barely contain his hope, and then there he was standing in the hallway to the kitchen. And here Percy was with his arm around Jason’s shoulders, he could barely believe it. 

Percy was putting nearly 100% of his concentration into remaining casual. He knew he looked like he was in a comfortable effortless position, but he was pretty sure he hadn’t moved anything but his arm the entire movie. His joints were probably fused into this position now, but he didn’t want to risk spooking Jason, he got the feeling Jason was really nervous, if his posture at the beginning of the movie was any indication. He had looked so uncomfortable, it had made Percy feel guilty about putting his arm around the back of the couch, maybe Jason was creeped out by Percy after all, despite him accepting the friend request. Frank would have been so disappointed if his theory had been proven wrong, but Percy had been determined to test the theory regardless, he had to know. Those twenty some minutes that had passed while Jason sat there and ate his pasta had been some of the most nerve wracking of Percy's life. He’d been moments away from finally moving his arm when Jason had leaned back against him, the suddenness of it had shocked Percy so much that he couldn’t help but look over at Jason to see what his face could tell him. He hadn’t expected to look over and see Jason looking at him too, those piercing blue eyes asking so many questions, none that Percy had the composure to answer right now. He looked away quickly, but it took all his focus to not continue sneaking glances over at Jason. Percy could still feel Jason's eyes on him and didn’t think he had it in him to keep his composure if he looked over at Jason again. Despite what his demeanor would have the outside world believe, Percy was truly an incredibly nervous person, he’d just had a lot of practice to make it seem otherwise. 

That’s why it had made Percy so happy when Jason had relaxed even farther against Percy’s arm. It allowed Percy to relax as well, he finally stretched out his legs a little bit from their fixed positions. That’s how they spent the rest of the movie, with this silent understanding, neither of them needed to address what was happening between them. At least Percy was pretty sure, which was crazy, since it was now near the end of the film, and Jason had slumped so far down on the couch his head was practically leaning against Percy’s shoulder, and here Percy was still doubting whether or not Jason was interested in him that way. Whatever was happening between them though, Percy was enjoying it none the less, he couldn’t remember feeling this kind of bewilderment or happiness with any of his previous boyfriends. 

All too soon, the movie was coming to an end and he could feel Jason begin to shift away from him as Leo got up to turn the lights back on when it finally ended. By the time everyone’s eyes were adjusted to the light of the room, Jason and Percy had moved themselves away from each other in a way that would make it seem to any one just looking over now that they hadn’t spent the entire movie nearly cuddling. 

“I have always, and will always love that movie,” Calypso finally said to break the silence. 

Jason turned to look at her as the three on the couch, Leo, Calypso, and Piper, started to have a conversation about their favorite Disney movies, and Percy turned to look at Jason. Jason began laughing at something Leo had said and all Percy could think about what Jason’s smile would feel like under his lips. He let his arm drift back up to the back of the couch, and let his fingers reach out gently to touch the spot in between Jason’s shoulder blades. Jason’s laugh was interrupted by a slight gasp, Jason then looked over at Percy with a shocked look in his eyes. God, Percy could stare at those eyes for hours, it didn’t help that they were his favorite color. Blue as the sky. 

Jason and Percy kept up this briefly intense moment of eye contact before Piper brought Percy back to reality. 

“Percy did you hear me?” she asked. Percy silently cursed her for forcing him to tear his eyes away from Jason’s, but he put a smile on his face and looked over to her. 

“Uhh, totally, but just in case I missed something, tell me the whole thing again,” Percy said, which earned laughter from all in the room, including Jason, his laugh bubbled up so happy and carefree, Percy was happy he was the cause of it. 

“I said, I was going to go home now because I have work in an hour and I need to get ready, so I was just letting you know that I was leaving,” Piper said, and Percy could swear she was smirking at him. Percy was confused at first because Piper didn’t work on Friday’s and then he realized she was trying to let him know subtly that she was being a wingman at that moment. 

He gave her a small thankful nod and said, “Okay, well, have fun at work, I’ll see you at home later then.” Piper was the greatest sister ever.

She said her goodbyes to the rest of them and then got up and left the apartment. 

There was a moment of silence before Calypso said, “Me and Leo actually have dinner reservations in a little while so we better get ready for that too.”

“We do?” Leo asked, turning to Calypso looking confused. Percy noticed she gave him a pointed look, with what looked like a very small head nod in Percy and Jason’s direction, and then he said, “Ohh, yea, that reservation, yea, we need to get ready, yea.” 

Calypso hung her head slightly at the complete unsubtly of her boyfriend, but composed herself quickly, and pulled him to his feet. “It was nice to meet you Percy, hopefully we’ll be seeing a lot of you,” and with a slight smug on her face she pulled Leo out of the living room and into their bedroom. 

Their door closed behind them and a silence descended over the living room. Percy’s fingertips were still barely touching Jason’s back and suddenly without any buffer of others, it made Percy very nervous. He felt his stomach swell with butterflies, Jason made him more nervous than he would have cared to admit. Still, this silence was beginning to become unbearable.

He was about to clear his throat to speak when Jason turned to him with a hesitant look on his face and blurted out, “I think I like you,” before clamping his hand over his mouth tightly, as though shocked that he’d said it out loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I hope you all like how this story has been going so far! I definitely intend to keep going with plenty more chapters, I've just been experiencing some writers block, so I'm not sure when the next chapters will end up getting finished, but it shouldn't be longer than two week stops!! Thanks for all the support I've been receiving in the comments, it really means a lot to me!


	10. Chapter 10

Jason

Did he really just say that? Out loud and everything. Percy probably thought he was a complete freak, who just says shit like that? Idiots that’s who. Jason hadn’t meant to say it, he’d been trying to say anything but that in fact, but the only thing he could think about was how he liked this raven-haired boy sitting next to him. Their proximity making it hard for Jason to focus and act like a normal human being. He’d wanted to say anything to break the tension that was mounting between them after Calypso had left them alone in the living room together. He could have talked about school, how they did on finals, sports they liked or didn’t like, types of music they were interested in, hell, Jason would have taken a conversation about the weather over what he actually said. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Percy, after saying it, he’d put his hand over his mouth, unbelieving at the words that had exited it, and had then tried to retreat into the couch as much as possible while averting his gaze. The sewing on the couch seams became, suddenly, very interesting. Why wasn’t he saying anything, it must have been about five minutes and he hadn’t said anything yet. At least, that’s how long it felt like to Jason. 

Then, suddenly, Jason was pulled out of his internal monologue of berating himself at the sound of Percy exhaling softly, Jason stole a glance at Percy expecting annoyance or possibly even disgust, he didn’t know what to expect, but what he saw he wasn’t prepared for. Percy was smiling, not a wide ear to ear smile like when he was laughing, a soft smile that crinkled around the corner of his eyes and made his whole face look peaceful and happy. 

Percy looked over at Jason softly and said, “Really?” 

Jason was taken aback, he sounded to hopeful and yet, scared almost. As if he thought Jason had been joking before when he’d blurted out that he liked Percy. How could Percy be doubting that Jason liked him, Percy was amazing. Jason stared at him dumbfounded for a moment before stuttering, “Uh, I, I mean, um.”

Jason trailed off when he saw Percy’s face drop a little bit at Jason’s reluctance to speak. 

“Hey, look it’s fine, I’m sorry,” Percy said and began to lean back, away from Jason.

That’s not what he wanted, he didn’t want to make Percy uncomfortable. That’s the last thing that Jason wanted. He reached out suddenly and grabbed Percy’s wrist, which startled Percy, causing him to flinch. Maybe Jason had put a little too much force into his grip when he reached for Percy. He softened his grip and slid his hand down to Percy’s. Jason looked up from their hands, his heart beating against the inside of his ribs, to Percy’s face. Percy was also looking down at their hands, his eyes widened, his green eyes sharply contrasting his tan skin. He saw Percy gulp quietly and then felt Percy’s fingers begin to move slowly. At first Jason thought he was trying to move his hand away from Jason’s, but then he realized that Percy had begun to intertwine their fingers together. Jason felt a smile begin to grow across his face. 

Jason gave Percy’s fingers a light squeeze when they’d finished moving their hands. Percy looked up and they made eye contact. 

Honestly, it terrified Jason, Percy’s eyes were mesmerizing, Jason’s gut instinct was to look away, but those eyes were keeping him captive. The longer he looked into them, he felt his nerves calming, calm enough for Jason to get the confidence to speak. He spoke deliberately and slowly so that he wouldn’t mess up, “I do like you.” After saying it, Jason exhaled and laughed quietly, having a weight leave his chest. 

Percy’s face erupted into a massive smile, reaching all the way up to his eyes. His teeth were a brilliant white and the smile was absolutely infectious. The smile on Jason’s own face began to grow more and more. The longer he looked at Percy, the larger his smile became. 

Percy chuckled softly then, and said, “So, what happens now?” He looked at Jason sheepishly from behind his hair falling into his face, Jason wanted to move it aside, but he’d already used up most of his courage with the handholding so he wasn’t about to try something so bold.

“I’m going to be honest with you, I’m not really sure, I’ve, uh, I’ve never really done this before,” Jason replied while motioning to him and Percy sitting together. 

Percy blanched slightly before clearing his throat and said, “Dated anyone?” 

Jason laughed, “No, I’ve dated before someone before, they were, um, they just weren’t a, uh,” he trailed off. 

Percy picked up for him where he left off, “Oh, you’ve never been with a guy before.” Percy looked down, he seemed almost abashed. 

“Yea,” Jason said, feeling upset with himself, though he knew he shouldn’t be. “I understand if that freaks you out.”

Percy sighed softly, “It doesn’t freak me out, I don’t think, I don’t know, I’ve never been anybody’s first before, like, um, anyone that I’ve dated, er, been with, in the past, they already knew that, that, they liked guys, ya know?”

Jason nodded solemnly, “Yea I get it,” and he began to slide his fingers out from Percy’s grip.

Percy stopped him though, by grasping tighter, “No, that’s not what I meant, I’m not saying that, uh, I don’t know what I’m saying,” he laughed breathily and then took a steadying sigh. “I like you too, I probably should have said that before,” he smiled lightly at Jason, and Jason felt like fireworks were going off in his chest. 

“I guess it’s my turn to ask, so what now?” Jason replied jokingly. 

Percy laughed and Jason almost melted, it was beautiful. So happy and full of life. 

“Well, for one, I barely know anything about you, besides the fact that you’re a librarian, but I’d like to, would you want to get coffee or something sometime?” Percy asked hopefully, a half grin creeping across his face. 

“I’d love that,” Jason replied. 

“How about right now?” asked the dark-haired boy, the half-smile transforming into a smug grin. 

Jason smiled, the longer he spent time talking with Percy the more comfortable he felt, “I don’t know, let me check my schedule real quick.” This time it was Jason who grinned smugly, while making a big flourish of taking his phone out of his pocket and pretending to look through his calendar for an unnecessary ten seconds, making Percy sit there, a smile growing on his face all the while. “Yep, looks like I have an opening right between this conversation and an appointment I made with Netflix later.” 

“Fantastic, then let’s go,” Percy said while standing, pulling Jason to his feet as well.

Jason smiled nervously, “Uh, yea, let’s go.” 

With that, Percy gripped Jason’s hand and pulled Jason out of his apartment, he had no idea where they were going, or how long they would be gone, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t believe he was getting this lucky. Maybe, it was a good thing he’d told Percy he liked him after all. He gripped Percy’s hand a little harder and followed the raven-haired boy down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for anyone who is/has been keeping up with this story since started it since I've been taking so long with these more recent chapters. I hope you all like it so far, feel free to leave comments!! I love seeing your guy's opinions on my work! I'm working on Chapter 11 now, but I'm having some serious writers block about four paragraphs in. If you guys wanna leave any suggestions bout where you'd like to see the story go, I can't promise that ill use it, but it'll probably knock the cobwebs loose and should get me on the ball again. Besides, who knows, I could love your idea and definitely use it! Thanks guys!!


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